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The Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom

The Battle

Translated by: S3

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

Leaving Noma in the carriage, Elna and Cross stepped out onto the road.

「...Cross, stay inside. There's no point in having a guard if you're the one out here.」

「On the contrary, you are the one who should stay back. To them, you are merely my fiancée. I cannot let you step out alone. Besides, we aren't forbidden from carrying weapons now. Knocking down an arrow or two is child's play.」

Neither of them took their eyes off the Imperial carriage, speaking through still lips as they faced forward. Cross lightly brushed the hilt of the sword at his hip. It wasn't Chiarore, but it was one of his favorite blades.

Elna shot it a fleeting glance and grumbled under her breath, 「...You're a hard man to protect.」

The Imperial carriage came to a slow, deliberate halt.

「If the worst happens, look after Noma. I'll be fine.」

「Understood.」

The door opened. The King of the Empire revealed himself.

——Emperor Rigoberto Jean Albarul.

Rigoberto’s black cloak billowed as he walked toward them with an air of supreme confidence. His brother, Lancielo, followed behind as if stumbling.

「B-Brother, no further!」

Lancielo tried to hold him back, and though Rigoberto knit his brows in annoyance, he came to a stop.

「...Well, what business do you have? King of the Empire.」

「Tell me, did you not feel that our conversation back there was a bit... incomplete?」

「Not at all. I felt it was more than sufficient.」

「Don't be like that. Indulge me for a moment, O King who still lives within stale myths.」

Cross and Rigoberto projected their voices across the distance between them—a gap that felt far too wide for a normal conversation. The air was electric, thick with a tension that made the skin crawl. Elna felt a surge of frustration at being forced by her position to stand a step behind Cross.

「...Even if I were to indulge you, I have no mediators or secretaries present. It's hardly a proper setting for a discussion.」

「There are things that can only be said *because* they are absent.」

「What are you—」

「The dragon.」

Rigoberto barked the word, cutting Cross off. Elna’s eyes went wide.

「It is a power wasted on people like you, who live in the dusty past. I shall put it to proper use. Now, hand over the dragon—」

Suddenly, his outstretched hand was sprayed with red.

——He had been slashed.

A scream like tearing silk rang out. Lancielo collapsed to his knees, and someone shouted in confusion, 「An attack! We're under attack!」 Rigoberto had been cut. It wasn't one of the Empire's men. Nor was it one of Wizrain's.

A horde of enemies clad in black leapt from the dense forest on the opposite side of the canyon. It was an ambush in the middle of a trip where both sides had significantly reduced their guards. The scene descended into a chaotic melee. Elna tore her dress and delivered a precise, powerful kick to the stomach of an oncoming foe. In the fray, no one noticed that her movements were entirely unlike those of a noble lady.

「—Cross!」

「I'm fine.」

The brief exchange was all they needed. They moved back-to-back, assessing the situation. There was no end to them, no matter how many they cut down. The carriage was being protected by their few remaining guards. They could likely carve a path and escape, but—

(……Unfortunately, we can't just abandon the Empire. Cross must be thinking the same thing.)

It would be disastrous if the Empire was led to believe this was a Wizrain setup. Rigoberto, despite his injured arm, was wielding a sword with his other hand, slaughtering enemies one after another.

Elna judged the situation based on the enemy's movements. Their target was definitely the Emperor.

「Hey, Cross. Their target is Rigoberto. ...By the way, you said in the carriage that it’s better to have the Empire in our debt, right?」

「……What of it?」

「Wouldn't it be a massive debt if a 'confused noble lady' were to **accidentally** run toward the Emperor and **happened** to shield him, **coincidentally** saving his life?」

「Elna, surely you don't mean...」

「Tell me to go.」

*I am your spear,* she meant. Her whisper reached Cross’s ear like a prayer.

「……Return safely. Without fail.」

She didn't need a verbal answer. ——Elna bolted. Moving faster than the human eye could track, she anticipated the enemies' blind spots and swung her fists, her dress fluttering like a blooming flower. She leaped toward Rigoberto. Letting out a convincing (but fake) scream, she pretended to trip, using the momentum to knock another enemy unconscious.

(……Don't kill.)

Rigoberto swung his blade. A spray of blood erupted nearby, staining Elna's face red.

(……Don't kill him!)

Even if he was an enemy. She knew it was a naive sentiment. She knew it was a meaningless philosophy on a battlefield. And she knew it was hypocritical, coming from the mouth of someone who had killed so many as a dragon in her past life. Even so, she couldn't help but wish. Every time she swung her fist, she hoped she was saving a life.

「Woman, you...!」

She slid between Rigoberto’s sword and an enemy. To them, it must have looked like a foolish, panicked girl had stumbled into the fray. Rigoberto roared at her, but he looked pale. Perhaps his dominant arm had been hit; his grip on the sword was weak.

「Kyah!」

Faking a clumsy scream, she threw her body against an enemy. Or rather, she appeared to, while actually delivering a palm strike from Rigoberto’s blind spot. Since her small frame wouldn't even make the man flinch if she just "bumped" into him, she had to make it count. Protecting the enemy from Rigoberto’s sword, and protecting Rigoberto from the enemy. That was her task.

(I know... I know this is reckless!)

The chaotic battle and her unpracticed movements left her breathless. Finally, Rigoberto dropped his sword. Before an enemy could grab it, she snatched it up with both hands. Should she give it back to him? That split second of hesitation was her undoing.

The body of a soldier who had been sent flying slammed hard into Elna as she crouched. Her vision spun. The world tilted. She held the sword tight to her chest, but the rest of her body wouldn't respond——

(Oh no.)

With that single thought, Elna’s body swayed and tumbled over the edge of the cliff.

「——ELNA!」

She heard her partner’s voice in the distance. Below the cliff was a river. She wanted to tell him she wouldn't die, but she was a little unsure. After all, she was terrible with water. *I really messed up,* she thought as she plummeted head-first.

Slowly, she closed her eyes. In the darkness, only sound remained. The roar of the river grew closer. It was right at her ears. *Well, things will work out somehow.* Just as Elna recalled her partner's voice calling her name one last time, someone pulled her into a tight embrace. It was the hard body of a man. A large palm was placed gently over her head.

「…………Cross?」

Elna murmured softly before her consciousness slipped into the murky dark.

---

For some reason, her entire body was freezing. Her clothes and even her hair were soaking wet. And yet, a heavy, black fabric had been placed over her.

「Fue... h-hek-shun!」

She pushed herself up from the bed of crunchy pebbles and looked around, wondering where she was. She wanted to say she didn't remember——but she remembered everything.

「Right... I fell head-first off a cliff, didn't I? How lovely.」

She had a headache from the realization of her failure. No, it actually hurt.

「...It's throbbing.」

She had the physical abilities of a dragon, but the durability of Elna’s body was that of a normal human. No, she was just a seventeen-year-old girl, so she was likely below average. *I was too reckless,* she thought, exasperated with herself, but she didn't seem to have any major injuries. She was, however, drenched to the bone.

「...Anyway, what's this cloth?」

She sat up and examined the fabric that had been covering her. It wasn't just a cloth; it was a piece of clothing. One she had seen somewhere before——

「Finally awake? I was beginning to wonder how long you planned to sleep.」

「Wah!」

Startled by the voice from behind, Elna spun around. For some reason, the King of the Empire was there. Water was dripping from Rigoberto’s red hair, and his clothes were soaked through as he sat upon a piece of driftwood.

「That thing you're holding is my cloak. How long do you plan on hugging it?」

「Eh... Whoa, you're right!」

She scrambled away from the cloak. It was the very one she had seen far too much of during the meeting. When Rigoberto saw her looking slightly disgusted as she held the cloak as far away from herself as possible, he stared at her in silence.

「Ah, sorry...」

She had been too rude. Wait—she felt like someone had embraced her as she fell from the cliff. Surely not. She looked at Rigoberto again in shock, only to see the furrows in his brow deepen. Perhaps a look of displeasure was just his default setting.

「Do you not even know your own country's carriage? You jumping out like an idiot was quite a nuisance.」

「............」

Her plan to put the Empire in her debt was feeling more like a net loss. No, that couldn't be right. She must have been useful to some degree.

「Well, having an idiot present did seem to make it harder for the enemy to move.」

(See?) she thought, puffing out her chest inwardly without letting it show.

「And you end up falling into a place like this. Idiot. No, you're a moron. Lower than a horse or a deer°.」

「............」

Rigoberto let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his wet red hair. The phrase "drowned rat" came to mind, but Elna kept her mouth shut and shot him a wet, lingering glare. She was a former dragon and currently a human, so she was neither a horse nor a deer. (I am definitely not...) She pressed her lips together tight, her competitive streak threatening to flare up, when she noticed something as she watched Rigoberto move.

「...Are you hurt!?」

Rigoberto’s right arm had been slashed by the attackers. He had been recklessly swinging his sword with his non-dominant hand, which had looked incredibly dangerous. That was why Elna had run to him and prioritized securing his sword. Losing your weapon on the battlefield was practically asking to be killed.

「...That? It’s nothing more than a scratch.」

He was clearly lying through his teeth, but the sword Elna had protected was tucked into the belt at his waist, and the wound on his arm had been treated with a makeshift bandage made from his torn clothes. A bit of red blood was seeping through, but she knew it would be pointless to press him further.

Still, considering he had fought like that while injured, he was a bit of a monster himself. He had supposedly slammed into the river, yet he had no injuries other than his arm. She wondered if the spirits had quietly helped her because they were worried, but they were actually peeking at Rigoberto from a distance, looking terrified.

(How strange...)

With that thought, Elna surveyed her surroundings again. She had been lying right by the river. The river, carved into the cliffside, had a gentle slope here. She wondered if she had washed up, and as she looked further into the distance, she saw a massive waterfall. Even from afar, it was large enough that she could practically hear the roar of the spray. ...Did they really drift down from there?

Returning seemed difficult——but then she remembered her partner calling her name.

(……It’s okay.)

Elna was connected to the scale of Elnalfia that Cross carried. Cross would know she was safe. Unfortunately, because they were too far from Chiarore, the protection was thin, and she didn't think she could teleport. However, she could faintly sense the distance between her and Cross. Since she could, he surely could too.

She had promised to return safely. She couldn't break that promise. Elna clenched her fist tightly, as if grasping the glass scales she no longer possessed. Then, Rigoberto stood up and started to walk away.

「Eh? Where are you going...? Wait!」

Elna scrambled to her feet, still holding the cloak. Her dress dripped water with every movement, which was unpleasant, but she didn't care.

「You shouldn't go moving around on your own when you're hurt! First, let's figure out where we are—」

「And why should I have to consult the likes of you for every little thing?」

「Why...? Whoa!」

Rigoberto snatched the cloak from her hands. Her hands felt suddenly cold and empty.

「Why, you ask...」

Rigoberto, who was disappearing into the distance, was likely planning to follow the river back. But there was a waterfall ahead, and she didn't think a human could climb a cliff even after passing it. In their current state, wearing Magic-Sealing Rings, they couldn't use magic, let alone spirit arts.

Wait.

The spirits had been watching Rigoberto in fear.

——*Marls couldn't be called lush, but forests favored by spirits were scattered here and there. However, there were no spirits in those woods. That was because **most of them lived in the forest surrounding the Vidrast Mountains.***

The spirits that shouldn't have been there were right here.

「...Is this... near the Vidrast Mountains?」

At the foot of the Vidrast Mountains lay the Forest of Confusion. Anyone other than a spirit user who set foot inside would be led astray and driven out. But for Elna...

A breeze blew through, shaking the leaves as if inviting her in. The dense forest rustled with a sound like falling rain before quickly falling silent again. Small, adorable heads of spirits peeked out.

Water spirits, wood spirits, earth spirits... Fire spirits were scarce, but the spirits showed their faces to Elna, each one breaking into a happy smile. *Pryu-ryu-ru, ru-ru-ru-nyu.* She didn't know what they were saying, but it felt like they were telling her to come this way.

「I know where we are!」

The words burst from Elna's mouth. Rigoberto stopped and turned around with agonizing slowness.

「...What do you mean by that?」

「I don't know the exact coordinates, but... we're near the Vidrast Mountains. You must know that too. It's impossible to follow the river back to where we were. There's a waterfall and a cliff, and the carriages have probably already moved from the spot where we fell.」

Elna knew Cross’s movements through the scale, but she couldn't tell him that. No one was foolish enough to wait in the same spot forever for someone who fell off a cliff. It was common sense to assume they were moving to mount a rescue or search. Given the emergency, they might have even returned to Crushment to have the Magic-Sealing Rings removed.

「Our only choice is to head toward the Vidrast Mountains. There are spirit users dispatched from Wizrain there! *I* can get us through this Forest of Confusion!」

If they found a spirit user, they could send messenger magic. It was the correct course of action to notify both Wizrain and the Empire of their location.

In truth, Elna could have just stayed put. Eventually, Cross would come for her. Of course, Elna had no intention of just waiting idly, but it would be a hassle if she lost sight of Rigoberto. In that case, she just had to give them a common goal.

「...Woman. If you are lying to me, are you prepared for the consequences?」

「Prepared? I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not so light that I can carry around unnecessary burdens.」

They stood facing each other, glaring as if blocking each other's path. Elna looked up at Rigoberto’s tall frame, feeling almost insignificant. ——But then, a sudden gust of wind lifted Elna's dress and tossed her apricot-colored hair. Her fluttering red dress, like a flickering flame, seemed to mirror her resolve.

(……I will.)

*Jaran, sharan.*

As if speaking from within her heart, the dragon's scales let out a roar, her spirit burning hot.

(I will definitely make this man owe me a debt!)